ISLAMABAD: Director General National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Mirza Muhammad Irfan Baig has said that his institution is working on a three-pronged strategy to curb corruption in Pakistan.
“It includes creating better awareness among the people about the harmful effects of corruption, taking preventive measures against corruption, and improving the NAB laws to ensure their strong enforcement”, NAB DG Mirza Irfan Baig said while at an event organized by Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) in connection with the International Anti-Corruption Day.
NAB Director Capt (r) Muhammad Faheem Qureshi and other officers were also present on the occasion. A large number of the business community attended the event.
Mr Baig said that the situation of corruption in Pakistan was not as bad as it was highlighted. The majority of officers in Pakistan want to avoid corruption, while a few officers benefit from it. As a whole, Pakistani society was not corrupt which was promising, he added.
He said that the corruption of a Hindu Seth in the battle of Plassey enabled the British to rule over the sub-continent for 200 years, which shows the extent of its ill effects. He said that NAB is reaching out to the students, teachers, members of the business community, and civil society to sensitize them about corruption. Messages on anti-corruption were delivered in the sermons of last Friday prayers across the country. He said that necessary amendments are being made to the Cooperative Act to eliminate corruption in private housing societies. He resolved that NAB will continue to work with all stakeholders to eliminate corruption from the society.
Speaking on the occasion, President ICCI Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari said that corruption always keeps countries underdeveloped, so corruption has to be eradicated to make Pakistan a developed, prosperous, and great country. He urged the business community to always discourage speed money. Societies invested in corruption cannot attract investment, so to make Pakistan an attractive country for investment, corruption must be eradicated.
He said that together with NAB, ICCI was ready to start a campaign against corruption from Islamabad, which can be extended to other parts of the country later on. He assured that ICCI will cooperate with NAB to end corruption from society.
The NAB Director said that it is easy to criticize NAB, but this agency had collected Rs600 to Rs800 billion and deposited it in the national treasury. NAB will continue its efforts to eradicate corruption from society for which it needs the support of all stakeholders.
